What Even Is Happening Anymore?
by astrangetypeofchemistry
Summary: Help Rose who decided to come down to Palm Springs and ends up facing a mystery because Adrian is actually being reasonable. And what the heck happened to Sydney? Is she actually friendly with the same people she dubbed "evil creatures of the night"?


Okay, so Rose isn't quite sure what's going on.

She could tell you what happened Monday, how she rolled into Palm Springs. She could quite confidently give details about all the people who were definitely staring at her as she walk out of the airport with her baggage in hand. But that's where things headed south.

Rose knew Adrian had a bachelor pad somewhere downtown, was quite positive she could find it. She just had to turn on her senses; the smell of cigarette smoke could definitely lead her to Adrian.

But, there was no such luck, and she begrudgingly made her way to Clarence's. Imagine her surprise when she found a yellow convertible and a brown van in the driveway, and rushed her way to the door, eagerly knocking.

The door was opened by none other than her ex-boyfriend Adrian Ivashkov, who regarded her with surprise.

Rose isn't dumb. She knows Adrian harbors a little bit of anger towards her for cheating. But, if she keeps treating him like a friend, maybe he'd get some semblance of moving on.

So, with a giant smile painted on, she looked at Adrian with an eyebrow raised, gesturing to his hand. "Coming out for a smoke?"

She wasn't prepared for Adrian's smirk as he leaned against the doorway, so sure he would just glare at her and turn away. "Are you even supposed to be here?"

With nose high in the air, Rose's grin turned a little more genuine. "Of course. I specifically requested a few days off."

"So you just left Lissa?"

Suppressing an eyeroll, Rose let him know that "Lissa's in good hands," before gesturing inside, wordlessly asking of he was going to let her in.

Just as Adrian shuffled to move, Sydney appeared just behind him, staring at Rose with the same shock Adrian had.

"Rose? Are you even supposed to be here?"

Holding in a sigh, Rose prepared herself for a repeated conversation, how boring, when Adrian turned his body towards Sydney and spoke to her instead.

"Apparently, she's responsible enough to ask for a few days off, and Liss is in good hands while she's here to ruin things."

Rose couldn't quite smother her scoff, noticing that Sydney spared her a brief glance before turning back to Adrian. "Are you planning on letting her in?"

He put on a speculative look, and Rose scoffed again because Adrian actually using his brain was unbelievable; an event that would never actually happen.

"I'm thinking not."

Before Rose could attack him for that smug grin, Sydney shrugged her shoulders and turned away, departing with "Whatever you choose" tossed hastily over her shoulder. Rose felt herself stare in shock after her. She'd barely even gotten to speak to her good friend.

Stepping into Adrian's space, Rose yelled into the house. "You can't just abandon me, you traitor!"

She felt Adrian shaking with laughter as he pulled aside, letting her in before shutting the door. Without waiting for him, Rose pushed into the living room, finding Eddie, Angeline, and Jill staring curiously at her while Sydney smothered her laughter.

Without even acknowledging the other three, Rose pointed in Sydney in betrayal. "You just left me!"

For some reason, Sydney giggled harder at that, shaking her head as she responded. "If Adrian says you're not coming out, then I guess you're not coming in."

Before Rose could even retort about how she's known Sydney longer, Adrian strolled into the room casually with a can of soda, plopping next to Sydney. "Sage." Turning to her, he placed a hand against his chest and pouted before declaring "I'm touched."

Rose somehow became even more perplexed when, instead of shying away from her, Sydney bumped their shoulders together before turning away, a smile playing around her lips. There was _no way_ that this interaction was normal, and when she turned to the other three for answers, she noticed that Eddie and Angeline were still staring at her.

Jill, on the other hand, had no doubt been watching Sydney and Adrian's interaction just like Rose.

She barely registered Eddie asking "What are you doing here?"

Barely remembers replying "Just checking in, seeing how all of you are."

Because, Rose saw that the look on Jill's face was pure fondness, as if she was more than definitely used to Sydney and Adrian.

 _Of course she is_ , Rose reasoned. _Sh_ _e does have a spirit bond with him._

It still didn't click, for some reason, but Rose was positive it would by the time she left Thursday.

"It doesn't click, Dimitri!" Rose cried, and Dimitri laughed at her as she flailed.

"You're basing this off of one interaction?" he asked, sounding genuinely amused, and Rose sat up and glared.

"It's not just that!"

"Rose doesn't know what she saw, but there were definitely many strange things during those three days.

First, Sydney gave Eddie the keys to her car, Latte was apparently the name, and left with Adrian "on an errand." When Rose tried to invite herself along with them, they shared a long, _long_ look before Jill swooped in and said that she wanted to hang out with her.

Then, there was this whole matter of Adrian having a car that he actually named. And it had the weirdest name _ever_.

"The Ivashkinator is a perfectly fine name," Sydney had cried indignantly when Rose had commented on how ridiculous it was.

"You're just jealous you didn't come up with it," Adrian's retaliation had been.

It had been even more shocking when she found out that Adrian hadn't picked it, Sydney had. Smart, sensible Sydney who would never dabble in anything that wasn't highly intelligent had given a car an incredibly stupid name.

On top of that, Rose is pretty sure she saw Adrian and Sydney passing some kind of a crystal to one another, and whenever they did, Jill would smile discreetly.

There was a day when they all went out for lunch, and Adrian kept discreetly piling some of his vegetables onto Sydney's plate while she talked to Eddie. When she finally noticed, she only shook her head. Adrian went to go pick Sydney up from Amberwood right after her classes ended, and _no one had any clue where they were or what they were doing._

"Except for, potentially, Jill, whom Rose tried to exploit to no avail.

The most shocking thing was when she'd gone to Adrian's late Wednesday night, ready to demand answers about whatever the heck he was doing with Sydney, when she found her human friend alone with Adrian, not panicking in the _slightest_. They were apparently doing some research, judging from the way there were a few books scattered around them, and Adrian was casually typing on a laptop.

It was _way_ past Sydney's curfew, definitely a time Adrian would've been highly drunk, and _not what Rose would've expected_. They refused to tell her what they were up to, packing everything up and entertaining her. She refused to leave before Sydney did, still hoping to get answers out of Adrian, but when the blonde girl had left, Adrian had shrugged, turning to his bedroom and nodding off before Rose could demand anything out of him.

Over all, her "vacation" had made her more confused, and more scattered.


End file.
